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Wednesday 31 October 2012

Happy Halloween!!

After posting a few ideas for pumpkins over the past few days I thought I'd share our one with you today. We go the traditional route and carve ours each year (when we are home to celebrate!) and I usually find a template online. This year we chose Jack Skellington from The Nightmare before Christmas.
The carving is usually something I do but it was a collaboration this year - Dave cut the top off and scraped out the guts, I cut out the eyes and nose and Jack finished off by cutting out the very fiddly mouth. A couple of tea lights popped inside and it was set outside our front door. We've been inundated with Trick or Treaters who have all been really impressed with the orange guy!!
I hope that however you spend today that you have fun and enjoy it x

Tuesday 30 October 2012

More Pumpkin ideas

With just one day to go before Halloween I thought it might be useful to share a few more pumpkin ideas.  This is a super quick but really effective one that uses power tools!!
You prep your pumpkin as if you are going to carve it, remove the top and then scrape out the seeds and guts.  Then its time for the power tools.  You'll need a couple of drill bits of different sizes and then just get drilling.  Create designs, random holes or whatever you like - its so quick and easy and the finished effect when lit is fabulous.  Are you doing a pumpkin for tomorrow?

Monday 29 October 2012

Pumpkin ideas

With two days to go until Halloween the pressure starts building to create something fabulous with a pumpkin. This year they seem to be super-cheap and pretty decent sizes. I found them for 2 for £2 in our local supermarket.
You can of course opt for the traditional carved pumpkin and we usually choose a pretty ornate design each year. We have a tradition if roasting the seeds and having them as a snack fresh from the oven and I make pumpkin pies with the flesh. But what if you're not keen on all the mess and fuss of carving? Here are a few ideas for no-carve pumpkins!
1. Glue buttons or flat backed gems onto your pumpkin. Clear or coloured gems will add a fab sparkle!
2. Paint a design onto a pumpkin using simple black and white paint. The ghostly contrast of colours can be used to create a funky modern decoration.
3. Add ribbon, trim or washi tape using pins or hot glue. You can create eclectic mixes of pattern and colour or simple stripes.
4. Use spray paint and a stencil to add colour and design. You could take this up a notch by switching the paint for spray adhesive and then add sparkle with glitter!!
Have fun with pumpkins this year and share your creations in the gallery in the Total Papercrafts forum!!

Saturday 27 October 2012

Exciting Prima project!!

Earlier this week Prima Marketing, the amazing company that creates stunning flowers and papercrafting products, announced a new project open to everyone. Called 'Life Journal', they were giving away six albums to six selected people to create the first pages in a journal that they would then pass on to creative friends. The fact that these would be physically passed would mean no postage cost or risk of them getting lost in the mail system. The response was incredible and do they decided to give away twelve journals. The idea is that these are eventually returned to Prima to form a part of their library.
Well guess what? I have been selected to start one of the journals!!! I was stunned to see my name listed as I never win or get picked for this sort of thing! I had to send in my details and am now waiting to receive the journal but my brain is already buzzing with ideas. From what I can gather, I will need to get a group of creative friends together who would all like to take part. It's a big commitment because there will be deadlines and criteria to meet. So my question is, are you interested?
I'd love to give some of my blog readers the chance to take part in this journal so if you're genuinely keen to join in please post a comment on this entry. If you have a blog or gallery online please share the address and let me know a bit about your creative
style, what products you like to use in your work etc. I'd really like this journal to show Prima just how much talent we have here in the UK!! If you feel the same way post here and let me know!!

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Total Papercrafts Masterclass in North Kent

We are running a Masterclass in North Kent again this evening and the ladies asked specifically for a baby kit.  I don't really like to do specifically themed kits or classes as they have the tendency to instantly alienate those who don't directly see a link to their own lives.  If you don't have babies in the family then it can be tricky to find a photo that you want to scrapbook.  I tend to design a kit that is more flexible and can be used for lots of different themed photos so this 'baby' kit has nothing that says baby on it anywhere.
The soft yellow and pale green colours of the papers with little pops of blue and pink work really well with baby pics but would also look stunning with wedding, feminine, garden, floral or vintage photos.  Of course I had to use a photo of the newest member of our family - baby Nancy!  I chose a 6" x 4" landscape photo but a single portrait would also work, just rotate the whole design through 90 degrees and you're good! I opted for a black & white print as the colour version was purple and turquoise and was absolutely not a match for these gorgeous papers but if you have colour photos the main tones of the kit are buttery yellow and pale spring green.  If you don't have a photo ready, just cut a piece of white card to 6" x 4" and bring that along to use as a blank and help you to work out where to place things.
You'll need to bring along a yellow and a green inkpad - pale shades would be ideal.  The sample used Distress Inks in Scattered Straw and Shabby Shutters.  If you have any Martha Stewart Punch-around-the-page sets then you might want to bring them along, I'll be showing you a few ways to use these punches as after all, they are expensive and need to earn their keep!! I will be bringing a few different sets along to use if you don't own any so don't worry.
As usual you'll need loads of 3d foam, your trimmer, adhesives and scissors but if you have a heat gun I have a cool product in the kit that you can have fun with if you heat it up.  Again, I'll have mine with me so don't panic buy one just for the class.
The kit contains; cardstock, 3 sheets of double sided patterned paper, a pack of matching rub-ons, a pack of matching metal embellishments, ribbon, mouldable plastic, 3 brads

If you are coming along to the Masterclass tonight I'll see you there, its getting to be a very popular class!!

Monday 22 October 2012

Thank you!!

One of the fab things about the Retreat weekends is the wonderful people who come together to form an amazing group crafting together. It's never the same group, it's a great mix of experience, age and background from widely different parts of the country. It never ceases to amaze me just how well these groups come together and how quickly new friendships are forged. I just want to say thank you to everyone who came to the Total Papercrafts retreat and made it so much fun.
It has become a bit of a regular feature for us to have Stampin Up demonstrators attending and offer free make & take sessions at the retreat. This was something started by Pauline and Sue and has become a hugely popular aspect of the weekends. This past weekend Pauline & Sue outdid themselves!! They put together 2 amazing classes that went above and beyond, a Christmas card and the Christmas bauble from the front of the SU catalogue. There was such a lot if work put into prepping each of the kits and I know that Sue spent hours stamping and die cutting baubles!! They had a fabulous display of products and tools plus gorgeous samples showing numerous ways that products could be used to create very different effects. It was inspirational and such fun. I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to Pauline and to Sue for taking the time out of their weekend away to run these classes. I know I'm not alone in feeling very grateful to have had the chance to learn how to create these projects. You girls rock!!

Sunday 21 October 2012

A fabulous weekend!!

We've just got back home after running the Total Papercrafts retreat and had an absolutely fabulous weekend. Despite all the stress of changing venue at the last minute and a really horrendous 6 hours in the car before we even started, once we were up and running it was simply great!
We had a lovely large cropping room with plenty of space to spread out (some more than others eh Claire??!! Lol). Immediately outside we had a huge lounge area with unlimited hot and cold drinks and free use of an Internet cafe. It made a lovely space to move into if anyone needed a change of seat or scenery. The seats in the cropping room were fully adjustable so even I found it comfy to sit down for the classes without struggling!
One of the highlights of the weekend has to have been the food!! We had a great selection of dishes to choose from on the menu with starters, main and desserts. The portion sizes were ridiculously huge and we almost had to be rolled down the corridor to the cropping room after each meal!! There was something for everyone, it was hot and tasty and we certainly didn't go hungry - quite the opposite in fact. I'm afraid we've been we'll and truly spoiled for anywhere else now. It looks like we'll have to go again....
For probably the first time ever we had lots of finished class layouts, even the project was finished by quite a few. I obviously got something right (or need to up the degree of complexity?!). It really was great to see finished pages with a range of gorgeous photos on and ready to go into an album.
My only gripe was that there wasn't enough table space to set out all of the shop stock. We needed a few more tables but I'll make sure that we have them next time. I missed having a natter with my roomie at the end of each day as we all had rooms on our own but I know that suited most people. The shower in the room was so powerful it virtually had me pinned against the wall, it was heaven! I didn't get the chance to even pop in to the sauna or hot tub to take a look but as I didn't take my bathers there was no chance of me having a dip anyway. It's nice to have something to look forward to next time though! Perhaps I'll see you in March 2013 for the next one?

Saturday 20 October 2012

Inky fingers and full tummies!!

After the first full 24 hours of the Total Papercrafts retreat chimes we have lots of inky fingers in the cropping room! Very unusually classes are getting finished, going into albums and looking lovely.
The venue is fabulous, a good sized cropping room with a huge coffee lounge and Internet cafe just outside. The rooms are really comfy with everything you could ask for included -ironing board & iron, hair dryer etc!!
The huge talking point is the food! The portions are enormous and theres great choice. Check out this burger!!

Thursday 18 October 2012

Last retreat class peek

Here we go with the last peek in the run up to our retreat starting tomorrow!  This class uses the Cosmo Cricket 'Evangeline' line with its slightly retro feel of florals and colours.  The peach and soft teal colours of the kit screamed 1960s/70s photos to me.  I flipped through some old prints and immediately found a few that matched the papers right away, there's something about how those photos were processed seems to be a perfect pairing for this kit.

The sample uses a single 6" x 4" landscape photo (we didn't take many way back then!) but you could adapt the design for a portrait photo if that's all you have.

You'll need a brown inkpad for this class (sample used Distress Ink in Vintage Photo).  We have so many goodies in this kit, you'll have masses left over - honestly I mean masses!!

The kit includes; cardstock, 3 sheets of double sided paper, a half sheet of patterned paper, a pack of Evangeline chipboard, Evangeline cardstock stickers, pad of Evangeline journaling tags, length of ribbon, large doily, paper roses

Last minute change!

 Following an eleventh-hour call from our original venue this morning, I have had to find an alternative venue for the retreat this weekend!  I have booked us in to an amazing venue which offers us individual ensuite rooms and a range of additional facilities for the same great price.


De Vere Venues Harben House is located just off junction 14 of the M1, only a 15 minutes' drive from Milton Keynes. It offers contemporary accommodation with free Wi-Fi.



Rooms at the De Vere feature bathrooms with baths, showers and hairdryers. They also include satellite TVs and work desks. Traditional breakfasts are served daily.  The hotel’s leisure facilities include a steam room, sauna and mini-gym.

I appreciate that this will mean a bit more travelling for some of us but I promise you that it will be worth it!  The address for your satnav is;

Harben House
Tickford Street
Newport Pagnall
Buckinghamshire
MK16 9EY

Check-in is from 2pm onwards Friday and if anyone is held up then just give me a call and I can get dinner held for you.  I'm in the process of calling everyone to let you know individually, if this is a problem please get in touch xx

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Retreat checklist

Those of you who are attending the Total Papercrafts Creativity Escape this coming weekend should be starting to think about packing some bits and pieces around about now. Each class peek will have its list of specific tools and photo sizes but there are a few things that we generally expect everyone to bring as basics. I thought I'd offer a checklist for you....

Trimmer or preferred cutting tools for 12x12 card and paper
Scissors
Non stick craft mat
Heat gun
Selection of adhesives
3d foam
Pencil
Ruler
Craft knife & cutting mat
Baby wipes
Kitchen roll
Ink blending tool & foam/blending sponge/brushes
Paint brush
Water spray
Apron
Latex gloves if you don't like having inky fingers!
Distressing tool
Tweezers - not essential but handy

This list is not exclusive and of course you may like to bring along more than this which is fine. If you don't have something on the list please don't panic, I'll have a few spares and we all play nicely and usually share our toys!!

Oh I almost forgot some other essentials - chocolate and your favourite tipple!!

Monday 15 October 2012

Total Papercrafts kit 2 for October sample design

After much titivating and fussing I've finally decided that we are there with the sample design for kit 2! I love to fussy cut and these papers offered so many chances to cut out different bits and pieces and then recombine them with each other for a lovely layout.  The theme of this Teresa Collins line is living in the moment and I was drawn to these photos of Dave and I for that reason.  We spontaneously decided to get off the train after a day at one of the Olympic venues and take a walk to see the Olympic Park.  I'm so glad that we did, the atmosphere was brilliant and the people we met on that walk were so positive and fun, everything that sums up living in the moment for me!  Unless I scrapbooked these photos and wrote that story down there would be no other way for future generations to know that we did that, that we were spontaneous as a couple and that we loved to live in the moment.  I tucked the story on a card behind the top photo so its there to discover but not dominating the design.

I have printed off some bingo cards and added those to the kit as I liked the look of mine so much, everything else is included in the kit or die-cut.  I got out my Tim Holtz clock die and a scrap of chipboard to make some clock hands and then coated then with a thin layer of Liquid Pearls in Chocolate which gave them a metallic bronze finish (they look gold in the pic but thats the shine from the pearl effect). The pumpkin yellow twill photographed a lot brighter than it is in real life, its quite soft and muted when you see it and adds a little touch of solid colour in amongst all of the patterns.

We hope that you like the kit and that the sample page gives you a few ideas for how you can use these papers with your own photos.  Its nice to get a couple of simple snaps onto a page and write the story behind them - scrapbooking doesn't always have to be about the perfect photos or the big events, sometimes a simple snap can tell the most about you xxx

Total Papercrafts kit 2 for October

I know that things have been thick and fast around here with peeks for the Retreat but we haven't forgotten about the monthly kits!  Our second kit for October features the luscious Vintage Finds line from Teresa Collins (I can hear Wendy squealing already!!).  The gorgeous papers are double sided so there are loads of options and ways to combine them and the quality is fabby! We have matched the papers with the co-ordinating sticker sheet of borders, flags, tabs and alphabets.  There is also a pack of crystal brads, a length of cotton twill and some lace flower trim.

The colours are black, grey, cream and soft orange.  The vibe of the kit is modern vintage with damask prints, clocks and spots.  The quote stickers in the kit include the following; 'remember', 'spark your dreams', 'be true', 'celebrate life', 'create the world you want to see', 'make good things happen' and 'laughter is the best medicine'.

Studio G class peeks

 Here we are with a peek at the Studio G 'Autumn Splendor' class kit.  As I laid everything out Lily decided that she was very interested and would like to join in.  Now this cat legs it at the sound of the camera motor switching on so this was really strange behaviour from her! She must have really taken a liking to the colours in this kit and decided to check them out up close LOL!!

Anyway, this kit is full of gorgeously rich colour, jewel tones of purples and deep magenta are offset by soft greens.  The overall effect is of mossy garden walls with ripe orchard fruits growing over them - get the picture?  We will be featuring one of this years hot trends in this class, ombre!  You'll create an ombre background on resist kraft card and then add layers of patterned papers and flowers for a rich and gorgeous page.  Plus you get to play with one of the most stunning ranges of shimmer sprays we have found (and keep a bottle!!).  Check out the peek.....
The sample design used three identical 6" x 4" portrait photos layered over one another but of course you could just use one if thats all you have.  You'll need a selection of green and purple inks plus a pale beige colour to antique the paper doilies.  The sample used Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Seedless Preserves and Old Paper.  Don't worry if you don't have these exact colours but you'll want to have two shades of green - one light and one darker plus a purple. I used a small retro flower punch and liquid pearls to create tiny flowers on the sample - the punch will be available to use in class but if you own a tiny flower punch you might want to bring it along.  I used liquid pearls in pale pink but cream or white would also work.

The kit contains; resist kraft card, 4 sheets of patterned paper, bottle of shimmer spray, large doily, small doily, paper roses, fabric leaves, alphabet stickers - cat not included!!

Sunday 14 October 2012

Prima class sample

Take a peek at the class sample using the Prima Craftsman kit!  We have oodles of layers going on, well with so much patterned paper in the kit it'd be rude not to!

The sample design uses two 6" x 4" portrait photos but this is another very adaptable page that could accommodate two landscape photos or a larger 7" x 5" single photo.  I printed my photos in sepia because the originals had a lot of bright blue in them and just didn't work with the page - but I really wanted to use them!

The kit includes; cardstock, 8 sheets of A4 patterned paper, Prima Craftsman acrylic stamp set, Prima flower centres, large black gems, piece of canvas, length of lightweight calico, Prima crystal swirls

Available in the class will be; brown Chalkboard spray, border punches, Tim Holtz Sizzix alphabet die, tab punch

You will need; black and brown inkpads (sample used Distress Inks in Black Soot and Gathered Twigs), Glossy Accents/Diamond Glaze or similar dimensional adhesive

While this has been designed as a masculine page you could in fact include female photos as the word strips include 'all about me', 'girl', 'always', 'excited', 'boy', 'cheerful', 'faith', 'love' and 'babe'.  I think that vintage photos would look fabulous on this page too - you've got so many options, its so exciting!

Friday 12 October 2012

Prima class peek

I always try to include a masculine class in the collection of kits for our retreats and I instantly fell in love with the new Prima 'Craftsman' line when it was released this Summer, so we had to have it!! Because I couldn't decide which of the fab papers to put in the kit, I got loads of them in A4 so we could really cram a lot in.  In total we have NINE sheets of patterned paper!

I threw the matching stamp set into the shopping cart as well and then a bit of bling found its way in there too!  I'm sure you girls attending won't be complaining that you'll have a fab stamp set to add to your stash?

Obviously this is going to be a masculine page so you'll need some pics of one or more men in your life. There is a vintagey/steampunk vibe to the designs and the colours are deep rich burgundy/navy/rust, perfect for most masculine photos but if you're not sure then bring along a black & white print or two - its sure to be perfect!

Thursday 11 October 2012

Cosmo Cricket class peek


Take a peek at the products that we have in our Cosmo Cricket 'Evangeline' class!!  I love the teal, cream and red colour combo, right up my street!  We have stuffed this kit full of goodies including a pack of chipboard, a pack of cardstock stickers and an entire pad of 24 different tags.  With four sheets of double sided patterned papers, there's plenty to play with here.

Keep dropping by to get a look at what we will be doing with this collection of gorgeousness!!

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Take a peek at the project sample for the Retreat....

This is the type of project that you can keep playing with and adding to, the problem is knowing when to stop, I could keep tinkering with this but I had to draw the line somewhere and this is it!  I loved playing with each of the tiles that make up this patchwork.  You can do absolutely anything you like to each one and even if you do the same as your neighbour, they can be put together in so many different ways that each project can look really different.  We'll be inking, spraying, stamping, embossing, crackling, faux riveting, embellishing and anything else you'd like to do!

Almost everything that was used on the sample will be available in the kit or to use in the class but if you have any particular ink colours, stamps or embellishments that you would like to incorporate then feel free to bring it along.  The letters used to create the words on the sample don't form a part of the kit, you can bring along a black alphabet or cut letters from black cardstock - the Tim Holtz Wordplay Sizzix die will be available for you to use if you'd like.

I didn't include a photograph on the sample but one could very easily be added and it can be any size that would fit onto a 12x12 and leave space for embellishments!  This can be as flat or dimensional as you like, it can be a piece of art or a scrapbook page, its absolutely up to you!

Take a peek at our Retreat project class kit!

I am so excited to tell you about this class because quite a few months ago I was given permission by Tim Holtz to take one of his classes as inspiration for the project at the Retreat!!  We will be creating a stunning piece of wall art that is choc full of techniques, colour and inspiration for you to refer back to over and over again.  The patchwork of pieces come together to create a 12x12 piece that you could add photos to and place into your scrapbook or could be hung on the wall.

The kit contains; chipboard, grungeboard sheets, chitchat stickers, ticket, a bottle of clear rock candy crackle paint, assorted Tim Holtz ephemera, tissue tape

You will have a huge selection of Ranger paints, inks and mediums to use in the class plus shimmer sprays, stamps and Sizzix dies.  You can make your own unique statement with this project, you can combine any colours, make it any theme, add more of your own charms etc... This will be a class to play with products and have fun!!

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Take a peek at the sample page design

After posting the peek of the kit contents I thought you might like a peek at the finished sample design too.  Of course you can't see the whole page but it should give you a feel of the colours and layering.  The flowers are a deeper tone of the vintage blue in the papers and you decide on how bright you want them as you colour them yourself.

Now that I look again at the sample layout I think it would be very easy to add two portrait photos if a single landscape isn't your thing.  You wouldn't even need to rotate the page!

So, think soft vintage and pretty but not sickly sweet and you'll be on the same track as me.

Retreat class peek

Here we go with the first of the class peeks for our retreat next week and we start off with a pretty vintage kit using Melissa Frances products.  We have gathered together stickers, resin architecture and lace to create a stunning vintage sample page that would be perfect for baby, feminine or heritage photographs. We will be altering the embellishments in the class to create co-ordinating products.

The kit includes; cardstock, 2 patterned papers, a sheet of cardstock stickers, resin embellishment, paper roses, decorative brads, coloured cotton lace and resist canvas butterfly.

The sample uses a single 6" x 4" landscape photo but you could use a couple of smaller pictures or rotate the page for a portrait photo.

You will also need; a brown inkpad (sample used Distress Ink in Vintage Photo), paintbrush, liquid pearls or adhesive gems/pearls.  We will have liquid pearls available in the class together with Glimmer Mist.

Tim's 12 Tags for October

If you are a Tim Holtz fan then you will have been waiting expectantly for his tag for this month which was a little later than usual as he had a much needed break from his manic schedule!  The tag for this month is of course Halloween themed and in his step by step technique pics he shows how to create custom coloured glitter using the new dry Distress Glitter and alcohol inks (remember those - I have loads of them!!).

The background is created from a layer of printed tissue crinkled onto a tag and then painted over with paint daubers.  He then applied distress inks over the top and the translucent qualities of the inks pick out the creases while allowing the paint colours to shine through.  A couple of glitter die cuts, a stamped ticket shape and a clip finish off this gorgeous tag for October.

If you would like to see exactly how Tim did it himself them simply click here and have fun!!

Monday 8 October 2012

Our new & improved website!!

Over the past few weeks we have been working behind the scenes on lots of things, one of which has been our website.  As is usual with this type of thing, it turned out to be a bigger task than we had hoped but we now have a new and modern website.  All of the previous stock was deleted in the switch over so it will take a while for us to restock with everything we have but we are working on it.  We also lost all of our previous customer details so feel free to register on the shop to receive news and updates.

If you are attending the retreat this month we have added a quick way to pay off your balance to the shop site, full payment should be received before the Friday 19th October.  We thought that adding the balance to the shop will make things easy for you to bring payments up to date.

Please take the time to have a look around the new format shop, it is still a work in progress (ignore any images of sofas on the main screen!!) and we will be adding more stock all the time.  Let us know what you think and if you notice anything that needs our attention, the more eyes the better!! The web address is www.totalpapercrafts.co.uk


Sunday 7 October 2012

We did it!!

For the past few weeks we've been running a giveaway on the Total Papercrafts Facebook page aimed at reaching 200 'likes'. Well yesterday we reached our target!!

I used a random number generator website to draw the number 125 and the winner was Bridget Bob Edwards! We met Bridget at the Make It show in Farnborough earlier this year and she has been following the blog for some time now. Congratulations Bridget, your handmade album is on its way to you, enjoy!

Keep an eye out for more offers on our Facebook page coming soon.....

Friday 5 October 2012

3 is the magic number!

For the past 2 weeks we've been running a free draw on our Facebook page to win a handmade mini album - I posted a pic of it here yesterday in fact. Well we only need three more 'likes' to reach our goal of 200 and then we can draw a name!!

I'd really love to be able to give this away today so if you haven't liked our page dash over there now and enter! If you have already entered then feel free to let others know about it.

You can find us at www.facebook.com/totalpapercraft

Thursday 4 October 2012

Win this mini album!!

Take a look at the fab decorated album you could win just by clicking on 'like' on our Facebook page!  When we reach our target of 200 likes we will draw a name from all of our Facebook fans to win this.  Check out the super cute bird cage charm hanging from the left spine!! The gates are held together with a padlock and key toggle clasp to close the album.

Each of the pages is covered with patterned paper and has lots of decorated tags for you to add even more photos and journaling.  It would make a perfect gift either as it is or filled with photos - we could solve one of your Christmas gift issues!!

If you are not already a fan of our Facebook page just click here and click on the 'like' button.  Good luck!!

Wednesday 3 October 2012

Retreat peek!!

Here we go folks! The peeks for the retreat start here........!!

We are kicking off with a glimpse of one of the free make & takes that will be available throughout the weekend to give everyone a break from the cropping room and a change of pace.  Pauline and Sue will be running this stunning 'Christmas bauble' make & take a couple of times during the weekend so you'll need to check with them when they are running it.  They tell me that it may take around an hour to complete the project so you'll have to plan around meals/classes/sleep etc!!

Having seen the finished project I am sure that there will be a queue out of the door for this but don't panic if you don't get into the first session as Pauline and Sue are really flexible and will run it a few times to suit as many as possible.  I can't wait to make one of these myself, isn't it totally gorgeous?!

Tuesday 2 October 2012

Total Papercrafts kit 1 for October

Here we go with the Total Papercrafts double page design for our October scrapbook kit. Just to start off, this is not a baby kit, its a kit that I used baby pictures on which is really different.  This is 'a really versatile page design that will work with all sorts of different photos, the rose designs will work really well with female photos/heritage photos/floral photos. 

The technique for this kit is 'cold porcelain clay' and making your own moulds using two-part moulding medium.  We will be making our own air dry clay and creating moulds from all sorts of decorative shapes - if you have an embellishment that you can't bring yourself to use for any reason, why not make a mould of it and recreate it in air-dry clay?  Dig out these embellishments and see just what you can create!

The kit contains; cardstock, 4 sheets of patterned paper, large oval doily, packages of 2-part moulding medium, length of white cotton tape, length of bakers twine, corn flour

You will also need; rose and green inkpads (the sample used Distress inks in Victorian Velvet and Peeled Paint), a decorative border punch and PVA glue.

Those attending my clubs will have the use of the punch and silicon moulds used on the sample design.

Monday 1 October 2012

Photo prompt for w/c 1st October

Can you believe its October already?? Where is this year going? So here we go with our new photo prompt for this week.  It was lovely to see a few photos appear in our gallery after last week's prompt and I'm sure that it will continue to grow.  What struck me was the variety of pics that came from one prompt and thats what I was hoping.

So if you fancy joining in just for fun and to take more photos then drop by the forum here